1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices for guiding and redirecting a flexible cable extending from a spool.
2. Description of Prior Art
Numerous cable guide designs are found in the prior art for sailboat rigging, excavating machines, cranes, winches, and other diverse applications for flexible cables. These guides include types for keeping a cable extending in a generally constant direction from a cable winding spool while allowing redirection of the cable to various angles beyond the cable guide. Some guides only allow redirection within a plane, and some of these are limited to about a 90-degree range of angles. Some guides provide a large range of angles in a plane by means of two adjacent pulley wheels. Others improve further on this by providing a swivel mount for the two pulley wheels, so the cable can be redirected in any plane. The two most relevant examples found are described below.    U.S. Pat. No. 1,433,751 (Stahl Oct. 31, 1922) Swivel Fair Lead    U.S. Pat. No. 3,174,726 (Atkinson et al. Mar. 23, 1965) Fairlead
Stahl and Atkinson provide two circumferentially adjacent pulley wheels mounted in a swiveling frame. They also provide two parallel rollers on the frame. The wheels have parallel axes in a first plane normal to the swivel axis. The rollers have parallel axes in a second plane normal to the swivel axis. The roller axes are 90 degrees offset from the wheel axes about the swivel axis. A cable extending tangentially from a winding spool passes between the two pulley wheels, then between the two rollers, after which it can be redirected to any angle without changing its angle from the winding spool. The rollers add the capability of low-friction redirection outside the plane of the wheels.
The present invention provides the same advantages, but eliminates the rollers by providing a unique and non-obvious pair of opposed curved edges, making the present guide much simpler and less expensive. None of the prior devices have the same degree of both flexibility and simplicity as the present invention.